Getting to be that season for house sales--we're excited!

mood: optimistic

Joseph's house in Virginia has had some really interested lookers lately, and as the season approaches and time for school to be out gets closer, we've got a good feeling about the chances for the right buyer who will really appreciate the place! It deserves it; we hated to leave it.

He put a lot of work into it over the years and kept it well-maintained--it has a great deal of charm. A lot of the homes in that neighborhood were one story, but he literally raised the roof to add a cozy family/TV room, a bedroom for his daughter that would make a wonderful studio for some lucky artist (or a great sewing or game room!), and a master bedroom to die for. It's got glorious angles and spaces, a cross-breeze that makes fragrant summer nights a delight, and of course the bathroom right off the bedroom.

We spent some lovely evenings by the fire in the living room, watching the flickering light reflect off those hardwood floors. The library/den has lots of room for books, the guest room is comfortable and inviting, and the kitchen, though compact, is wonderfully designed, with everything convenient to hand. We've both cooked some fantastic meals there--in fact my drawing of him making crab cakes was done right there!

Joseph designed the cabinets and shelves, and cooking there was just a pleasure.

The place has a country-Colonial feel--fitting enough for an historical reenactor!--but anyone who appreciates our heritage and history would feel right at home. With the right flair, it would look right out of the pages of Country Living magazine.

(Of course I love the new sunroom, too...just off the kitchen, it's a great place to eat in the spring, summer or fall.)

The town of Front Royal is a charmer, right at the mouth of the Shenandoah National Park--I've painted there and all around the countryside. The vistas are incredible, and of course fantastic canoeing, camping, and fishing are all just right there. What a place for an artist, photographer, or lover of nature and outdoor sports.

Do we miss it? Yes, you bet we do.

But my life, my work, and my family was here in the Midwest, and when we married, Joseph opted to join me after he retired (thank goodness!!)

I hope someone falls in love with the place as we did...the realtor's homes tour is still online, here, the second one down on the page, listed as Williams St, Front Royal (Stonewall Heights): www.chrisonline.net/listings.shtml

Omigosh...I just went back and looked at the tour again, and I MISS IT. It's just a fantastic, homey place.

Comments

Somebody is going to go NUTS over that place. J. lived there for quite a few years and just loved it; I did too, the last 3 years when I spent time there. Too bad we couldn't afford to keep a "Virginia Manse" for me to go paint!

Hi Tora, it's great to hear from you! And yes, it is indeed a terrific place...we just came from California, visiting his folks, and the difference in house prices for comparable dwellings was astounding. We couldn't live there...

It really is terrifically homey, Dee! I didn't think of all those rooms as bedrooms when I was there, but to a realtor, that's how they are. The daughter's room had become a sewing room/studio after she moved out, and of course the smallest "bedroom" was now the library/office, which worked beautifully. I imagine most families would keep it as that, it has floor to ceiling bookcases that Joseph built.

someone will walk in, and it will eel like "home". they will never want to leave, again. that's what happened with our place. it had been empty for a year, but when we walked in, it was home. there were a lot of adjustments, etc, and it is still a work in progress, but it is good, still.

That's what happened where we live now in Missouri, too, Miss Girl! I've lived here 34 years and have done a lot to it, but the first minute I saw it I felt at home. Looked right past all the things that needed to be done at the time to the big windows, high ceilings and light and said OH yeah.

That's what will happen with the Virginia house, I just know it. I am SO hoping it will be someone creative--what a place for it! I did quite a bit of art out in that sunroom, myself...

I give! I'll take it! Miss Kate, you didn't miss your calling, but you sure could have had a parallel life in real estate ;D.Best of luck to you both re selling the house!Xoxo,L, waiting for her fight to DFW